about 8, see text Bothrocara is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.

[3] This genus is the sister taxon to Bothrocarina, Lycodapus and Lycogrammoides, and these four genera form a clade within the subfamily Lycodinae.

[7] Bothrocara eelpouts share the loss of an oral valve with the three sister taxa.

They also share the absence of a pelvic fin and compared to other Lycodin eelpouts they do not display marked sexual dimorphism.

[4] In his original description of the genus Bean stated that it bore a resemblance to the genus Maynea but lacked teeth on the vomer and palate with the small teeth in the jaws being arranged in narrow bands with very few on the lower jaw.